Dicranum viride has been reported from Alaska by I. A. Worley and Z. Iwatsuki (1970) and from Kentucky by J. A. Snider et al. (1988). It is a not uncommon species of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. It rarely produces sporophytes and is distinctive because of the fragile, deciduous leaf tips, which probably serve as a means of asexual reproduction. It has on occasion been confused with 22. D. fulvum, which has nearly the same distribution, and rarely with 21. D. fragilifolium where their ranges overlap in the Great Lakes region. For distinctions see the discussions under those species.